“Hard-core” becoming smaller part of mass audience: NYT

“Hard-core gamers and the old-school critics who represent them are becoming an ever smaller part” of a ballooning games audience, the New York Times say in this editorial, citing recent NPD figures and “the soaring popularity of mass-market franchises like Guitar Hero and the Wii at the expense of critically acclaimed projects aimed at the same young-male audience the industry has relied on for years” as the death knell for gaming’s traditional audience.

Games like Bioshock, Mass Effect and Orange Box all failed to make the US top 10 for the year, the piece points out, despite achieving high Metacritic scores, while titles like Mario Party 8 and Wii Play, both derided by “traditional reviewers”, made the cut.